PDO

School Newsletter

8th May 2024

Dear Parents,

Please see the class teacher allocation for next year. We have of course included our specialist teachers as well, however from a parents perspective the priamry focus is on your child's class teachers. The PDO teaching staff continue to spend significant time on coordinating classes for next year. We aim to allocate students in classes before the end of term.

EY Specialist Teachers

Pre-Nursery - Dagmo Haji Yusuf Learning Support Leader - Anre Theron

Nursery - Emma Mitchell Additional Needs Teacher - Jojo Akwa

Reception - Mohsin Shabir Music Teacher - Rachel Teague

Reception - Nivine Abou Aicy PE Teacher -Scott Demellweek

MP1 PE Teacher-Iveth Ramirez

Year 1 - Julie-Ann Beckinsale Leader for Art-Jo York

Year 1 - Leanne Elderkamp MFL/EAL- Becky Pack

Year 2 - Arlene Albert ICT-Kirsty McDonagh

Year 2 - Hayley Saunders Assessment + Additional Needs- Mia France

MP2 STEM and Cover Teacher- Joe Watson

Year 3 - Naomi Miller STEM and Cover Teacher - Liz Wood

Year 3 - Maalia Shabir Cover Teacher - Iftin Ali

Year 4 - Amy Roche

Year 4 - Eimear Devlin

MP3

Year 5 - Tom Monks

Year 5 - Gina Creaton

Year 5 - Munira Lukmany

Year 6 - Dawn Watson

Year 6 - Neil Pittaway

Covid Car Drop Off - During COVID we established a drop off system in school where teaching staff opened doors for students; in discussions with the school manager we intend to cease this activity on Sunday of next week.

Our advice would be that

Continue to use the drop off but encourage the children to open their own car doors, this probably applies to the older children.
Park your car and walk children to school, all children must be accompanied into the entrance of school.
We understand that the early morning drop off will now take a little longer but appreciate your support in ensuring the drop off runs smoothly. The release of LSAs will ensure that they will be able to support the students learning in class. We also want to create independence in our students and believe that they should be able to open and alight from a vehicle, this is probably a life skill they will need to master. Many thanks in advance for your support.

Car Engines Running- As the heat intensifies we are seeing several cars in the car park with engines left running, we have been advised by HSSE that this is a risk and that cars should never be left unattended with the engine running. We appreciate your support in ensuring all engines are tuned off when you park at PDO school and keeping our community safe.

Cycling to school- Can we please encourage all students and parents to use cycle paths when travelling on a scooter or bicycle. Can we also request that parents are good role models and also wear helmets if using bicycles.

School Yearbook- we are delighted to announce that the school yearbook is ready to distribute, it will be sent home with children on Thursday. This is the first yearbook since 2018, this is another example of how we are continually upgrading our communication with parents. I hope you enjoy the book and that it will serve as a lasting memory of your time in PDO.

Tim Robinson

Headteacher

Early Years

Superheroes from around the world

This week, the children in Nursery began to explore superheroes from all around the world. We gathered around a big world map, and each child got to find their own country. Later, we had some great conversations about everyday heroes like police officers and doctors. We even took a peek at the different uniforms worn in different places. It was a blast!

Toddler Hut

It has been wonderful to continue our links with the Toddler Hut parents and children. Sessions have been held within school over the last few weeks and it has been amazing to see the children happy and curious.

This week we explored using paint in different ways. We had painting on ice, printing and painting on egg boxes. The children also enjoyed exploring the classroom.

Milepost 1

IPC - The students in Year 2 worked collaboratively to use their thinking skills to compare similarities and differences between nurses, Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale. They worked in small groups to show their understanding of the impact that both nurses made. The children were given equipment with no instructions to see if they could show their understanding and problem solve.

The students then compared their ideas to other groups and discussed how information can be presented in different ways.

Milepost 2

Year 4 have been enjoying making connections between our new English text- How to Train Your Dragon and our IPC Unit- Explorers and Adventurers. We have been discovering who the Vikings were, what their lives were like and where they explored, invaded and raided. Through drama and roleplay, the children have been demonstrating their understanding of characters in the text, using empathy and thinking skills.

Milepost 3 - Who's to blame?

Throughout this week, Year 5T children have been delving into the historical tragedy of the Titanic disaster. Each student was tasked with assuming the role of a renowned crew member from the ill-fated voyage, immersing themselves in the roles and responsibilities of their assigned character. With determination, they defended their positions while scrutinising the actions of the other crew members. Through persuasive arguments and compelling evidence, they debated and ultimately sought to determine which individual bore the greatest culpability for the events of that fateful night.

With a majority vote of 8 to 2, the crew members decided that Captain Edward Smith was the most culpable. Despite sacrificing himself to save many women and children, his decision to speed up even though he knew there was ice in the area was his fault. Furthermore, the children decided that as the captain, the leader of the ship, he was ultimately responsible for it's safe passage.

OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL ACHEIVEMENTS

This time it's the Teachers turn. Over the last few weeks, Ms Iveth, Ms Marwa, Ms Kawther and Ms Jawahir have been competing in the HAWA basketball competition. Having secured the second-best place in their group, the PD team has shown remarkable dedication and skill throughout the games to progress to the Semi-Finals. Let's show our support and cheer them on as they strive for victory.

Go PD team!"

MPSL

We have had a few busy weeks of events in the P.E. Department. Firstly, we had our Under 11 Girls basketball tournament here at PDO School. The first tournament for some of our girls, where they performed very well finishing in 3rd Place overall with some excellent baskets scored.

Next up our Netball girls travelled to Cheltenham to take part in the first MPSL Netball festival. The team opted to join the netball club before school on Tuesday and have been working hard all year to learn the game and they just missed out on the finals losing in the semis to the overall winners. A great achievement for a team that has recently learned this fast-paced game. Well done Team!

Last Wednesday, we hosted the PDO Waterpolo Festival. We had 9 teams battle it out in the pool to become the champions. With 32 of our own pupils taking part it was a great opportunity for teamwork and collaboration in the pool. Overall we had two teams finishing in the top 4 with one team finishing as champions in a closely matched final with Anas (Y6) scoring the goal to help his team lift the trophy. Well done to everyone who represented the following teams: PDO Splasher, PDO Titans, PDO Frogs & PDO Seahorses.

Champions - PDO Titans

2nd - BSM Dolphins

3rd - Royal Flight Stingrays

4th - PDO Splashers

On Monday we hosted our second Colourswim Meet with 5 schools attending. It is a development meet aimed at encouraging swimmers to improve their times with the main focus on individual improvement and not race-winning. Despite the heat, it was a great opportunity for our swim squad and we are looking at creating a similar event for more of our pupils to take part before the end of Term. Well done to all of the swimmers who took part and improved their PB’s.

Notes from the School Nurse

Please remind children to wear their hats when outside and drink lots of water to stay hydrated; this helps them perform better during the day.

On Oral Health presentation

As mentioned in last week's newsletter, we will have a dentist visit Dr. Omar visiting the school on Thursday 9th May 2024 to share a presentation with our parents at 8 am and continuing with the children in MP1, MP2 and MP3.

PTA News

Dear Parents,

We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the parents who took the time to fill out our recent survey. Your valuable feedback will immensely assist us in shaping next year's plans and activities.

One of the key insights we gathered from the survey is the importance of enhancing communication channels for our PTA community. We're excited to share that 71% of respondents expressed a preference for WhatsApp as their preferred mode of communication. In response to this, we've taken action and created a dedicated WhatsApp group where we'll be sharing important PTA news and upcoming events. We invite you all to join this group and stay updated with the latest happenings in our school community.

Additionally, for those who might not be aware, we have an existing volunteer group that has been around for a few years. This group serves as a platform for parents to offer their assistance whenever needed. Whether it's helping out at events, contributing ideas, or lending a hand with various initiatives, your support is always appreciated. There are no obligations – just an opportunity to contribute in any way you can, whenever you can.

Once again, a big thank you to each and every one of you for your continued support and engagement with the PTA. Your involvement truly makes a difference in creating a vibrant and supportive school community.

Dream Sound Space

Following a training course that Ms Nivine has completed to become a Dream Sound Space Instructor, PDO School has been offered the exciting opportunity to be the first school in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to offer a dedicated space and time to teach the Dream Sound Space project.

The Dream Sound Space project aims to create a safe & nurturing environment for children to explore a multi-sensory environment guided by sound, consciously balancing between rest & activity. The carefully curated and responsive soundscapes focus on brain wave stimulation and mimic the waves of the REM sleep state where the body’s innate healing function activates. Within this framework, there is less reliance upon the visual sense, inviting awareness and responsivity to audition, proprioception and kinaesthetic needs and impulses as they arise and ebb.

We would like to offer an opportunity for our Year 6 Students to experience the Dream Sound Space. The sessions will run during lunch break every Tuesday . We can accommodate 13 children in a session and places will be given on a first come first served basis.

Next academic year we will offer other year groups the opportunity to experience Dream Sound Space as part of our well being programme.

Book Week feedback

Thank you for sharing your feedback following our recent Book Week. Here are some of the comments. If you would like to share your thoughts, please take a moment to complete the Book Week feedback form.

What did you enjoy most?

"That it was an entire week rather than one day. It put the focus on reading not just on costumes for a day."

What did your children speak about the most?

"So much!!! They LOVED it! They specifically talked about the “stop and read” time, the reading tents and the book café."

"It was great! The school decorations were beautiful."

"Everything was great. Loved that the teachers and staff dressed up too it was amazing really."

Please see information below for monthly storytelling sessions in Oman Avenues Mall...dates to follow soon.

End of Contract or Leaving Oman

We are sorry to have to ask, but PDO does not share your contract or employment information with the school. We request that parents whose contracts have not been renewed or who have plans to move away from Oman to please provide us with the details as soon as possible by emailing us at notices@pdoschool.com . This will allow us time to issue the Transfer Certificate and documents your child may require for application to a new school, as well as to be able to give your child a decent farewell.

Dates for your Diary

13th May -Pre-Nursery / Nursery Mini Sports Day, 8:30 - 9:30am, Main Sports Hall - parents invited
14th May - Year 1 Exit Point - 'Super Humans' - 10:15 am - 11:00 am
14th May -Year 4 Exit Point 1:15pm - 2pm
15th & 16th May - School Closed - Staff Training Days
21st May - MPSL Unihoc @ BSM
28th May - MPSL Girls Futsal @ BSM
28th May - Meeting for Reception parents - Transition into Year 1 @ 12:45 - 1:45pm
2nd June - PTA Meeting @ 4:30 pm in the Early Years building - all welcome
12th June - Year 6 Graduation @ 1:00 pm
13th June - Reception Graduation @ 10:30 am

Wishing you a pleasant weekend,

The PDO School Team

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